Is there anyone on this board

[twinight]

I am pretty positive on this team. But we are at a major disadvantage. If we dont win it all, we will have no ability to say "I was right!" Everyone that claims to know and understand the inherent flaws of this team cannot lose. If SU loses they can say "see? i told you so!" and if Cuse wins they will somehow manage to argue that Cuse "fixed" the problems they identified. So to keep with the tradition of always being right, I will now claim we are inherently flawed (reserve the right to identify those flaws as we go).

Yes, this exactly.

People need an emotional safety net. As you said, it's a win/win situation for them. If SU wins they get to enjoy the victory. If SU loses they get to say, "I knew it!"


What they don't realize is that the victory is much sweeter when you, as a fan, say to the team "I'm going to put my complete faith in you. Now what are you going to do earn it?" Yes, it's true, there is no safety net with this position. But that's what makes it exciting.

If I was an opposing team I would not look at this team's recent performances and think, "Oooh, they look vulnerable." I would think, " me. This team doesn't even lose when they're playing bad."

 

[mark79]

I'm not, I'm a happy guy and I love this team.

I just wish my cat would stop crapping all over the house. And I dunno, is it normal to get hit by three cars in one week? It also kinda blows that I got mugged the other day. And don't get me started on my lupus. My car also caught fire the other day, while I was sleeping in it because I was evicted last week. I also have this rash, I think it's a rash anyway but the doctor won't see me anymore. Something about a lawsuit, I really wouldn't know, my court appointed attorney doesn't speak English. My dog ran away last night, too. Funny thing is he took my wife with him and left a note, but signed her name. Weird.

Ahhh, someone with a positive attitude AND a sense of humor. You, Sir Jekelish, are hereby elected Chairman of the Board of this small but special club. Feel free to elect leadership positions amongst the rest of you fine SU fanatics.

And Jekelish, good luck with that rash

 

[mark79]

Fan club president

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk

Marsh, yes you can be President but you report into Jekelish.

 

[mark79]

Can I nominate myself for VP? A win is a win!!!!

Hoov, you are VP; you report into Marsh.

 

[jekelish]

Marsh, yes you can be President but you report into Jekelish.

If it's all the same, I'd prefer no one do anything "into" me.

 

[texascpa]

You would be hard pressed to find a debbie downer post by me. The latest I recall is during the ND game chat session. I was confident they wouldn't come back and that was at halftime.

 

[TinyManInside]

I prefer to think of myself as objective rather than being either a downer or cheerleader.

This season has been A TON OF FUN. Just a joy overall to watch us go 28-1 and win in so many different ways. We've shown incredible resilience and have gotten some big plays at big times from several players.

I think it's also important to have some perspective. We've been winning ugly lately and fans are sort of 'on edge' because earlier we were blowing teams out - but our schedule was also somewhat backloaded where we've played our toughest opponents recently. So that clearly has had an impact on the 'perception' that we're not playing well. Seriously, how poorly could we be playing if we're 28-1?

BUT even so... the team as it is playing and constructed right now does not strike me as a Final Four type of team. The perceived depth has all but evaporated. The perimeter shooting is a major concern. Rebounding has been subpar for quite some time. We do a lot of good things to offset these limitations (block shots, generate turnovers, score in transition when we get the chance), but at some point in the tourney we're going to run into teams that take care of the ball better than Rutgers and USF.

I would say that overall this team reminds me a lot of the 1999-2000 and 2009-2010 teams (and even the 90-91 team). Extremely exciting teams that were awesome for most of the regular season but the cracks started to show in February, then sort of ran out of gas down the stretch as JB tightened up the rotations. I don't think we can make a Final Four with only one guard consistently playing well and no real go-to guy in the halfcourt offense (BTW - I really, really like both Joseph and Fair, I just don't think they are capable of carrying a team in tight spots like John Wallace and Carmelo did in previous F4 runs).

This is not to say that we can't fix our weaknesses - I think we can and hope we will - but also think that the team needs to regain the balance that it had earlier in the year. We need more than just 2 or 3 players playing well every game from here on out. Nothing easy left on the schedule.

Mason

 

[jekelish]

Mason - could not agree more about your point about having no J-Dub or Melo this year. We just don't have that elite inside/outside scorer who can put us on his shoulders this year.

I hope we can overcome that with great defense and transition buckets, but it's awfully nice to have a guy you can count on to get you a big basket whenever you really need it. I'm just not sure we have that.

Maybe Hubert Davis isn't the we thought, and had a point about us not having a "Dude" after all? I hoped it would become Dion, but he's regressing like crazy.

 

[br801]

Wow. I would love to be able to celebrate a first round NCAA loss and remember the great wins against Providence and USF... I would be shattered.

Did you not understand the premise of this thread?

Thought I was safe here, then you showed up.

 

[TinyManInside]

Mason - could not agree more about your point about having no J-Dub or Melo this year. We just don't have that elite inside/outside scorer who can put us on his shoulders this year.

I hope we can overcome that with great defense and transition buckets, but it's awfully nice to have a guy you can count on to get you a big basket whenever you really need it. I'm just not sure we have that.

Maybe Hubert Davis isn't the we thought, and had a point about us not having a "Dude" after all? I hoped it would become Dion, but he's regressing like crazy.

About 5 weeks ago I thought that Dion would be the guy that you give the ball to at the end of the game, and he'd get a basket or get fouled... but since the Gtown game he's repeatedly settled for bad, contested, off-balanced shots when put in that position. Granted, he did come up big in the UConn game, but he's not been consistent at all in those positions. Scoop's been our best player when the game is on the line, followed by Joseph. And that scares me a little bit... both really good college players, but neither is great.

Mason

 

[Flacusian]

The odds are pretty overwhelming that none of us will live to see another season where Syracuse is 28-1. In view of what has transpired so far this season people having negative juju with this team are to be pittied. Of course there is a distinction between those who see and point out flaws and things which may be of concern with respect to this team and those who profess a sudden and tragic enevitable ending of the season for this team just for the sake of espousing negativity.

I can say I've certainly gotten my moneys worth of thrills and excitement with this group and until they are eliminated from contention for the ultimate prize I want to be counted among those who love and support this team warts and all.

 

[jekelish]

The odds are pretty overwhelming that none of us will live to see another season where Syracuse is 28-1. In view of what has transpired so far this season people having negative juju with this team are to be pittied. Of course there is a distinction between those who see and point out flaws and things which may be of concern with respect to this team and those who profess a sudden and tragic enevitable ending of the season for this team just for the sake of espousing negativity.

I can say I've certainly gotten my moneys worth of thrills and excitement with this group and until they are eliminated from contention for the ultimate prize I want to be counted among those who love and support this team warts and all.

Silly mortal, I won't die, so your point is moot.

 

[orange79]

I prefer to think of myself as objective rather than being either a downer or cheerleader.

This season has been A TON OF FUN. Just a joy overall to watch us go 28-1 and win in so many different ways. We've shown incredible resilience and have gotten some big plays at big times from several players.

I think it's also important to have some perspective. We've been winning ugly lately and fans are sort of 'on edge' because earlier we were blowing teams out - but our schedule was also somewhat backloaded where we've played our toughest opponents recently. So that clearly has had an impact on the 'perception' that we're not playing well. Seriously, how poorly could we be playing if we're 28-1?

BUT even so... the team as it is playing and constructed right now does not strike me as a Final Four type of team. The perceived depth has all but evaporated. The perimeter shooting is a major concern. Rebounding has been subpar for quite some time. We do a lot of good things to offset these limitations (block shots, generate turnovers, score in transition when we get the chance), but at some point in the tourney we're going to run into teams that take care of the ball better than Rutgers and USF.

I would say that overall this team reminds me a lot of the 1999-2000 and 2009-2010 teams (and even the 90-91 team). Extremely exciting teams that were awesome for most of the regular season but the cracks started to show in February, then sort of ran out of gas down the stretch as JB tightened up the rotations. I don't think we can make a Final Four with only one guard consistently playing well and no real go-to guy in the halfcourt offense (BTW - I really, really like both Joseph and Fair, I just don't think they are capable of carrying a team in tight spots like John Wallace and Carmelo did in previous F4 runs).

This is not to say that we can't fix our weaknesses - I think we can and hope we will - but also think that the team needs to regain the balance that it had earlier in the year. We need more than just 2 or 3 players playing well every game from here on out. Nothing easy left on the schedule.

Mason

See, downers? Is this so hard? Yeah, it takes a little longer to write than "[insert the name of the player who just missed a shot] SUCKS!", but it's thought out and reasonable. There is nothing reasonable about "Scoop sucks!" (there is also nothing truthful about that either).

Enjoy the ride, folks, until the end - whenever that may be. We have weaknesses and we have strengths. It remains to be seen which one will outweigh the other - and for how long.

Hand raised.

 

[Flacusian]

Silly mortal, I won't die, so your point is moot.

Jeke, by the look of that rash you've been deceased for some time now!

 

[moqui]

I don't think we can make a Final Four with only one guard consistently playing well and no real go-to guy in the halfcourt offense (BTW - I really, really like both Joseph and Fair, I just don't think they are capable of carrying a team in tight spots like John Wallace and Carmelo did in previous F4 runs).

great post Mason. I largely agree with everything.

I will say that I have a glimmer of hope - Scoop has been very effective at creating scoring opportunities for Fab and CJ, making them quasi-low post threats, and Kris has shown signs of elevating his game to another level. He's definitely not J-Dub or Melo, but he does have the skill set to be a reasonable facsimile of them for a short stretch. Someone in another thread (Jake, I think) pointed out that he was initiating offense with his back to the basket last night. He has also been more judicious with his drives from the wing, and has been much better at catch-and-shoots from the arc (even counting his 0/2 last night, he is 11/23 over the last 5 games - after being a miserable 3/27 in the seven games previously).

The two seniors are peaking at the right time. If Dion gets out of his slump once we get out of the conference, then I will gladly reassess my own position.

 

[jekelish]

great post Mason. I largely agree with everything.

I will say that I have a glimmer of hope - Scoop has been very effective at creating scoring opportunities for Fab and CJ, making them quasi-low post threats, and Kris has shown signs of elevating his game to another level. He's definitely not J-Dub or Melo, but he does have the skill set to be a reasonable facsimile of them for a short stretch. Someone in another thread (Jake, I think) pointed out that he was initiating offense with his back to the basket last night. He has also been more judicious with his drives from the wing, and has been much better at catch-and-shoots from the arc (even counting his 0/2 last night, he is 11/23 over the last 5 games - after being a miserable 3/27 in the seven games previously).

The two seniors are peaking at the right time. If Dion gets out of his slump once we get out of the conference, then I will gladly reassess my own position.

Scoop is definitely peaking, but is Kris, really? I'm not sure I can agree with that. He's still not living up to his potential if you ask me. He's seriously got the potential to be an incredibly complete forward, but he's so passive I just don't see him as peaking.

 

[moqui]

Scoop is definitely peaking, but is Kris, really? I'm not sure I can agree with that. He's still not living up to his potential if you ask me. He's seriously got the potential to be an incredibly complete forward, but he's so passive I just don't see him as peaking.

Maybe I am wrong, but it seems to me that he is. His shooting is definitely on fire, he has been more assertive and making plays at the ends of games, except for that weird UConn game his rebounding seems better (and was excellent last night), and he has been more productive on defense (5 blocks and 8 steals the last 5 games)

 

[OrangeBlood]

Count me in! Love this team. I actually think it'd be good for team if we lost an upcoming game. My only negative is Fabs offensive goaltending!

 

[br801]

YEAHHHHH!!! I am relieved to find that some of you feel like I do. I love this team, warts and all.

Thanks for starting this thread. There really are many of us out here that feel this way.

 

[Marsh01]

Marsh, yes you can be President but you report into Jekelish.

I always get screwed

 

[jekelish]

I always get screwed

If you're reporting "into" me, I think you're the one doing the screwing, sadly for me.

 

[mark79]

Thanks for starting this thread. There really are many of us out here that feel this way.

Your welcome. To me the cup is 9/10ths full.

 

[Marsh01]

If you're reporting "into" me, I think you're the one doing the screwing, sadly for me.

I dont even report into my wife during college hoops season. Too many SWAC games on...

 

[JLine]

I'm happy, just enjoying watching these guys play and continue to grind out wins however they have to. It wouldn't be as enjoyable for me if I sat back and dissected every mistake though of course I do at times. Obviously we haven't been playing our best but these guys want to win as much as we do and I have faith in them.

 

[mark79]

I'm happy, just enjoying watching these guys play and continue to grind out wins however they have to. It wouldn't be as enjoyable for me if I sat back and dissected every mistake though of course I do at times. Obviously we haven't been playing our best but these guys want to win as much as we do and I have faith in them.

Well said. My sentiments exactly.